A state senator says he has the conservative credentials to be Nebraska’s next governor.

Sen. Beau McCoy competes in a crowded Republican field for governor.

“I believe what sets me apart from any other candidate in this race is that I was born and raised in agriculture. I’m a fourth generation rancher. I grew up in the same sod house that my great-grandparents raised eight children in and I’ve owned small businesses and been a part of small businesses since I was 16-years-old,” McCoy tells Nebraska Radio Network.

McCoy runs a construction contracting business in Omaha. He first won election to the Unicameral in 2008. He won re-election in 2012.

McCoy is proud of a conservative track record as legislator, one of three Republican state senators in the field; six overall.

McCoy sponsored the legislation last year that would have eliminated the state income tax in exchange for the elimination of about half the exemptions the state grants for sales taxes. First proposed by Gov. Dave Heineman, the proposal ran into resistance from a legislature worried the shift might disrupt the flow of state revenue and harm the steady recovery of the state budget from the 2008 recession.

Lawmakers eventually settled on the formation of the Tax Modernization Committee, which focused more on property taxes than the state income tax.

McCoy says the gubernatorial campaign has given him an opportunity to talk with Nebraskans and the issue of taxes, he says, has not gone away.

“What I hear every day from Nebraskans is they want a government that’s efficient; that doesn’t waste their tax dollars,” McCoy says. “We all know that we want to pay less taxes, but we don’t want the tax dollars we do pay to be wasted by state government.”

The crowded Republican field for governor became more crowded with the entry of Bryan Slone in the race. McCoy, Charlie Janssen of Fremont, and Tom Carlson of Holdrege are the three state senators in the race, which includes State Auditor Mike Foley and Omaha businessman Pete Ricketts. Only one Democrat, former Executive Director of the Center for Rural Affairs Chuck Hassebrook, is in the race.